The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes

This is the final version. Available on open access from Nature Research via the DOI in this recordData availability: All collapsed and paired-end sequence data for samples sequenced in this study are available in compressed fastq format through the European Nucleotide Archive under accession number PRJEB44430, together with rescaled and trimmed bam sequence alignments against both the nuclear and mitochondrial horse reference genomes. Previously published ancient data used in this study are available under accession numbers PRJEB7537, PRJEB10098, PRJEB10854, PRJEB22390 and PRJEB31613, and detailed in Supplementary Table 1. The genomes of ten modern horses, publicly available, were also accessed as indicated in their corresponding original publications57,61,85-87.NOTE: see the published version available via the DOI in this record for the full list of authorsDomestication of horses fundamentally transformed long-range mobility and warfare. However, modern domesticated breeds do not descend from the earliest domestic horse lineage associated with archaeological evidence of bridling, milking and corralling at Botai, Central Asia around 3500 BC. Other longstanding candidate regions for horse domestication, such as Iberia and Anatolia, have also recently been challenged. Thus, the genetic, geographic and temporal origins of modern domestic horses have remained unknown. Here we pinpoint the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region, as the homeland of modern domestic horses. Furthermore, we map the population changes accompanying domestication from 273 ancient horse genomes. This reveals that modern domestic horses ultimately replaced almost all other local populations as they expanded rapidly across Eurasia from about 2000 BC, synchronously with equestrian material culture, including Sintashta spoke-wheeled chariots. We find that equestrianism involved strong selection for critical locomotor and behavioural adaptations at the GSDMC and ZFPM1 genes. Our results reject the commonly held association between horseback riding and the massive expansion of Yamnaya steppe pastoralists into Europe around 3000 BC driving the spread of Indo-European languages. This contrasts with the scenario in Asia where Indo-Iranian languages, chariots and horses spread together, following the early second millennium BC Sintashta culture

A Palatable Introduction to and Demonstration of Statistical Main Effects and Interactions

Because concrete explanations in a familiar context facilitate understanding, we illustrate the concept of an interaction via a baking analogy to provide students with food for thought. The demonstration initially introduces the concepts of independent and dependent variables using a chocolate chip cookie recipe. The demonstration provides an opportunity to distinguish between the main effect of an ingredient and the interactions between ingredients on taste perception. Student performance on exam questions suggests that this demonstration effectively helps students understand the concept and interpretation of an interaction

What Happened to the First “R”?: Students\u27 Perceptions of the Role of Textbooks in Psychology Courses

To investigate undergraduate students\u27 perceptions of the role of the textbook in psychology courses, the authors surveyed 311 psychology students. Using an online survey, students answered questions about textbook importance, usage, and preferences and about scenarios that described a textbook as a resource or central course element. If an instructor expected students to read and understand textbook material before class, students perceived they would learn less, enjoy the course less, and find the course more difficult than if an instructor described the textbook as a resource to which students might refer for clarification. Results indicated that students valued classroom experiences more than textbook reading. The authors discuss how such preferences may reflect prior reading experiences and instructors\u27 emphases

Materialism and Money Spending Disposition as Predictors of Economic and Personality Variables

This research explored the relationships between materialism and money spending attitudes on impulse buying tendencies, attitudes toward debt, sensation seeking, and openness to experience. Students and other adults (N = 266) completed a materialism scale, portions of two money conservation scales, an impulse buying scale, an attitudes toward debt scale, a sensation seeking scale, and an openness to experience scale. Simultaneous-entry multiple regression analyses revealed that materialism and money conservation were predictive of impulse buying, sensation seeking, and openness to experience. Two marginally significant interactions emerged. Individuals less materialistic and tight with money had particularly negative attitudes toward debt, and individuals less materialistic and loose with money were particularly open to experience. Results are discussed with respect to how materialism may be related to a variety of individual difference variables, both at the main effect level and in interaction with money spending attitudes

Learning By Doing: Research Methods With A Theme

Embracing an active learning approach, a 1-semester research methods course with a statistics laboratory component described herein provided sophomore students with their initial and only required exposure to research methods. Techniques used overcame constraints of limited library resources, restricted interlibrary loan procedures, and lack of a formal participant pool. The instructor selected the theme for a single class project. Students participated in design, data collection, analyses, and report writing. Discussion focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of involving all students in the same project

Evidence‐Based Teaching: Tools and Techniques That Promote Learning in the Psychology Classroom

Evidence-based teaching (EBT) entails the use of empirically validated pedagogical tools and techniques that promote student learning. We offer a rationale for why psychology instructors should embrace EBT in their classrooms. We then review five areas of evidence offering specific tools and techniques that improve learning and retention: the testing effect, spaced learning, metacognition, writing to learn, and interteaching. We then briefly discuss how three student self-regulated choices can promote learning. Finally, we urge psychology teachers and students to use the discipline\u27s experimental findings to enhance student learning

Protestant Ethic Ideology: Its Multifaceted Relationships with Just World Beliefs, Social Dominance Orientation, and Right-Wing Authoritarianism

To examine how different dimensions of the Protestant work ethic (PWE) are related to constructs indicative of conservative beliefs, 256 Americans completed an online survey including measures of PWE, belief in a just world, social dominance orientation, and right-wing authoritarianism. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the PWE dimensions of the belief that hard work yields desirable outcomes and anti-leisure predicted belief in a just world; the dimensions of centrality of work and anti-leisure attitudes predicted social dominance; and the dimensions of morality/ethics, self-reliance, anti-leisure predicted right-wing authoritarianism. We discuss how focusing on specific dimensions of PWE ideology, rather than a global score, enhances predictive ability and boosts understanding of relationships between PWE and other constructs